Posted by larryhoover on January 7, 2013, at 5:04:43
In reply to Re: More evidence of inflammation and depression. » larryhoover, posted by SLS on January 6, 2013, at 21:35:15
> I eat a diet high in carbohydrates, mostly because I still lack the energy and motivation to cook. Bread and cereal are cheap and easy. I definitely crave them. Abilify doesn't help. I have begun to change my behaviors, though, but I have trouble changing them all at once. Today was fresh broccoli day. For me, this is a significant change.
That craving thing goes away pretty quickly, if you drop carb intake into the 10-15% of calories range. And I'm not anal about my diet, in this regard. Any change I make is an improvement on what I had been doing.
I totally get the convenience factor of refined carbs, though. I seem to always have way too much food in my pantry. After I looked around the other day, I realized just how much of it was high-carb. I think I'm going to feel guilty if I take a bunch of that stuff to the food bank....but I guess it's better to have a meal than to go hungry. Been there.
> I feel that you hit the target with much of what you have written over these last few weeks. You have changed the way I think about diet. I appreciate the information that you present and your insights. It makes sense to eat and exercise your way to good health; as good as one's biology will allow.
Thank you, Scott. Glad to be seen in that light.
> When I was in my 20s, I changed my diet to be rich in protein and vegetables. I stayed away from sugars and starches. I exercised regularly. I remained very ill despite all of this. If I were to replicate these behaviors, I imagine I would feel better in a way an otherwise healthy person would feel were they to make similar changes. However, my experiences lead me to believe that diet is not the culprit in my illness. I have even looked at food allergy and have performed rotation diets.
My way of thinking is that I may not be able to fix my brain, but I may as well have it in the healthiest environment that I can produce. I admit quite readily that I was surprised to learn that standard nutritional dogma vis a vis fat intake was actually false. Quite opposite to the truth, in fact. And this whole set of questions in respect of inflammation has inspired me to investigate a host of other variables in my life.
It may be a simple coincidence, but I make a habit of taking antioxidant supplements daily, and I'm doing rather well. Perhaps those have been supportive of my better functioning. I could never have said that I knew they were helping me, though. The effects are too subtle for that sort of conclusion.
> Melatonin makes my depression decidedly worse. I took it at night, though. Some people need to take it in the early afternoon in order for their sleep to improve at night. Prazosin has helped me sleep along with reducing depression. My sleep had been very choppy previously. That said, my current sleep hygiene is not optimal. I need to make some changes.Interesting, your response to melatonin. One thing to consider is that commonly available doses range by a factor of 20, from a low of 0.30 mg, up to a high of 6 mg. There may be others beyond those extremes, I don't know. My own sweet spot lies in around 0.50-0.60 mg/night. And as melatonin is a hormone, you have to be careful to not take too much. If you do, it could actually lessen sleep quality. It's best, therefore, to titrate the dose slowly, until you get a sense of how it affects you. I have no idea if that will prevent your adverse reaction, though.
The only meds I take are sleep related: temazepam 30 mg, and trimipramine 25 mg. I did a slow taper of the benzo a couple of years ago, and waited six weeks at zero dose, but my sleep architecture just did not permit restorative sleep. So, I started taking it again, and it still works. For me, Restoril is just that.
> Too many bagels.
>
>
> - ScottWell, you can address that, one bagel at a time.
Off to the airport for another try to get out of here.
Best,
Lar
poster:larryhoover
thread:1034419
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20121231/msgs/1034920.html